Machine for breaking fibrous materials



Feb. 1, 1949. J. v. cooK MACHINE FOR BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 51, 1945 INVENTR. BYc/D/z WZO Feb. 1, 1949. J. v. cooK MACHINE FOR BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS s sneets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5l, 1943 J. V. COOK MACHINE FOR BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS Feb. 1, 1949.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 31, 1945 INVENTOR. 'oO/ wwf, 09?@ Patented Feb. I, 1949 MACHINE FOR BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS John" v. cook, wumeae, 1u.

. Application August 31, 1943, Serial No. 500,628

2 Claims. l

This invention relates to apparatus for treating brous material and more particularly to apparatus for breaking and scutching brous stalkA material, such as hemp, flax, sisal, and other like and also in the inability of the machines to produce a substantial percentage of line or long fibers The dilculty in the use of mill machines lies in the fact that the ber stalks must be carted from the fields over vsubstantial distances to the mill, which necessitates considerable handling, and expense prior to the operation upon the stalks. Field machines have long been recognized as having definite advantages over mili machines in that they can be conveniently moved from place to place and used right in the immediate vicinity where the fibrous stalks are grown. Thus, when the stalks are operated upon by a eld machine only the fibers produced thereon need to be carted for either further treatment or for direct shipment to textile mills.

It is believed that the machine embodying the present invention is now the rst machine which has successfully met the requirements of a portable machine for use in the field, and only recently the Department of Agriculture of the United States Government has purchased a substantial quantity of such machines for use in operating upon hemp in the State of Kentucky.

The machine embodying applicants invention,

while being of a portable nature adapted to be.

moved from place to place by a tractor for use in various fields, is also of suiliciently substantial construction so as to permit its use as permanent equipment in a mill.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved machine of the character indicated, capable of being used as a. portable machine in the field, or as a mill machine, for breaking and scutching fibrous stalks for separating the pith or woody matter from the bers in an eilicient manner, While obtaining high production of line bers.

Another object is to provide an improved machine of the character indicated, which is capable of efficiently operating upon brous stalks of varying degrees of retting without the necessity of subjecting the stalks to an artificial drying action.

A further object is to provide an improved machine of the character indicated wherein the stalks of fibrous material are subjected to a relatively great number of bending and flexing actions, commencing substantially immediately afterthe stalks are subjected to a breaking operation, for insuring completion of the breaking operation and performing Ia scutching operation thereupon for separating the woody or pithy material, including shives from the fibers.

Another object is to provide a machine of the character indicated, which is of a simple, compact construction so as to lend itself for embodiment as a part of a combine machine of high productive capacity.

Still another object is to provide an improved machine of the character indicated provided with a novel construction of beater and scutcher rolls and improved relationship of the rolls with respect to the breaker bar for eillciently breaking the fibrous stalks in a manner to produce relatively short hurds and subsequently and efiiciently separating the hurds from the fibers.

A still further object is to provide an improved machine of the character indicated which is of a strong, durable construction but suiliciently light so as to be rendered portable for use in the eld, and wherein the fibrous stalks are caused to be fed into the machine at a relatively high rate of speed, and wherein the beater roll is caused to operate upon the fibrous stalks to produce short hurds of the woody matter.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the machine embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view of the machine showing the driving arrangement for the various elements thereof.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic illustrations of the breaking and scutching action to which the stalks are subjected in passing through the machine.

This application is a continuation-impart of my co-pending application Serial No. 436,987, filed March 31, 1942, now abandoned.

In the machine illustrated in the drawings, the various elements thereof are mounted within a pair of spaced-apart, upright side frame strucaccaiae tures indicated generally at I0, which in turn are mounted upon a chassis or frame I I, provided with wheels l2, vso that the machine may be conveniently moved from place to place.

The feeding end of the machine includes a table I4 extending in a generally horizontal direction and supported by framing, as indicated at I5, connected to the side frames Ill. A pair of sides indicated at I6 are connected to the ltable I4 at their lower edges, and the forward ends of the sides incline downwardly and are interconnected by a top panel i1, so as to form a hopper for receiving the fibrous stalks as indicated at I8.

The stalks of fibrous material, such as hemp, flax and the like are initially placed upon and spread across the table |t and are fed forwardly into the bight of a pair of cooperating, horizontally disposed crusher rolls and 2|, mounted on shafts 22 and 23 respectively. The shaft 23 is journalled in fixed bearings 25, on the side frames I0, while the shaft 22 is journalled in bearings 26, mounted for vertical movement in suitable guides formed in the side frames l0. A pair of coil springs 21 are mounted in the side frames in a manner to yieldin'gly engage the bearings 26 of shaft 22, for urging the top roll 2|) in engagement with the lower roll 2|. As the stalks pass between the rolls 20 and 2| they become crushed and flattened and are reduced in verti- I cal cross section. During such crushing operation, there is a tendency to break down the adhesion between bers as well as the adhesion between the fibers and the pith or woody portions of the stalks. en, as will hereinafter be described, and serve as the means for feeding the crushed stalks forwardly over a breaker bar, as indicated at 30.

The breaker bar is of relatively thin cross section and, as seen in the drawings, is a structural angle member, the long leg of which is in substantial alignment with the table I4, and is inclined slightly upwardly relatively thereto as seen in Figure 1 of the drawings. The structural angle breaker bar is connected at opposite ends to the side frame members I0, and is preferably mounted in a manner so as to permit a slight amount of forward and backward adjustment for accommodating stalks of different cross sectional dimensions.

Mounted in cooperating relation with the upper surface of the breaker bar, adjacent its forward edge, is a horizontally disposed rotatable pressure roll 3| mounted on a shaft 32, journalled in bearings 33, slidably mounted for vertical movement in the side frame members I0. Coil springs 34 are mounted in the side frame members in a position to urge the bearings 33 in a downwardly direction so as to yieldingly urge the pressure roll 3| into rm engagement with the stalks as they are fed over the breaker bar. The pressure roll preferably has an outer jacket of resilient material. such as rubber, so as to provide a yielding frictional engagement with the crushed stalks.

Disposed forwardly of and in cooperating relation to the forward or operating edge of the breaker bar is a horizontally disposed beater roll 40, mounted on a shaft 4| journalled in bearings (not shown), carried on the side frame members l0. The beater roll is made up of a plurality of axially spaced-apart spiders 42, to the periphery of which are welded a multiplicity of longitudinally extending circumferentially spaced-apart structural angle members 43, with The crusher rolls are power-'drivy one leg of each angle member welded in position to the spiders,` while the opposite leg projects outwardly therefrom so as to constitute a blade 43a. The angle members are positioned around the spiders, and welded together in a manner to form a solid walled drinn. The beater roll is positioned in such relation to the breaker bar that when said roll is rotated, the outer edges of the blades move past and in relatively close relation to the operating edge of the breaker bar 30 for striking the fibrous stalks I8 in a manner as will tend to break the woody pith into small hurds as indicated at Isa.

The speed of rotation of the beater roll is dcsirably so co-related with the speed of feed of the stalks as to produce hurds of relatively short length, preferably in the range of 1/5 to l/2 inch. When the stalks being operated upon are of substantial diameter, say 1 inch or larger, it may be desirable to adjust the breaker bar slightly away from the beater roll so as to properly accommodate the additional thicknesses of stalk material.

It will be understood that any suitable arrangement may be provided for varying the size of hurd produced, and in the construction illusstrated, this may be accomplished by varying the rate of speed of beating engagement of the blades of the crusher roll with the stalks, and this will necessitate merely a different size sprocket wheel on the crusher roll shaft 22, by which said roll is driven, as will hereinafter be described.

In the operation of the machine, the blades of the beater roll when engaging the stalks of fiber, strike the stalks a sharp blow, folding it downwardly over the operating edge of the breaker bar, as seen in Figure 3, which, as above stated, tends to sever the pith of the stalks into small sections or hurds. For operating upon stalks of an average size, it has been found that satisfactory results are obtained when the co-relationship of the beater roll to the breaker bar is such that the blades Imove in substantially wiping engagement with the operating edge of the breaker bar. Such beating action on the stalks tends to stretch the fibers thereof over the operating edge of the breaker bar, and the small sections of pith or hurds are caused to slip and break away from the ber of the stalks.

To insure that the breaking action of the woody pith is complete, a scutcher roll 45 is employed. The scutcher roll 45 is of the same general dimensions and construction as the beater roll 40, and is mounted on a horizontal shaft 4B, journalled in bearings 41, which in turn are pivoted at 43 on the side frames I0, and the op,- posite ends of the bearings are connected to the side lframe by adjusting screws as indicated at 49, so as to permit adjustment of the scutcher roll and its shaft toward and away from the beater roll. The purpose of such adjustment is to insure efiicient operation upon fibrous stalks of varying degrees of toughness, as well as cross sectional dimensions. If desired, the same result may be attained by adjusting the beater roll relatively to the scutcher roll.

It will be noted that the angle members 43 of the beater roll are so mounted that the blade elements 43a thereof are inclined a slight amount in a forwardly direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the beater roll. In the scutcher roll the angle members 43 have their blades 43a inclined rearwardly a slight amount from radial,

and with respect to the direction of rotation of the scutcher roll. As the fiber stalks are fed over the operating edge of the breaker bar, they then pass between thebeater and scutcher rolls, as clearly seen in the drawings, and the blades of the two rolls are disposed in inter-meshing relation so that the crushed and broken stalks are compelled to travel in a constantly changing sinuous path. The degree of inter-meshing of the blades of the two rolls 40 and 45, as above stated, is dependent upon the characteristics of the stalks being operated upon. If the stalks are relatively tough, such as might occur if they are not sufficiently dry, or under-retted, the extent of intermeshing of the blades is substantial, such as seen in theV diagrammatic illustrations in Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings. If the stalks are of small diameter or are sufficiently retted so as to be easily broken, the blades of the scutcher and beaterrolls are inter-meshed to a lesser extent.

The beater roll and scutcher roll are driven at the same rate of speed and because the beater roll desirably strikes the stalks a sharp blow at such frequency as to produce hurds in the range of one-fifth of an inch in length, it will be appreciated that the surface speed of the two rolls isv has been found from experiment that the ma-l chine will perform efficiently and satisfactorily upon stalks when fed through the machine at a rate in excess of 180 F. P. M. Hence it will be appreciated that with this high rate of speed of feeding the stalks, the surface speed of the beater and scutcher rolls will be substantial. In the machines that have been successfully operated, the beater and scutcher rolls were approximately of 9-inch external diameter and were provided' with l0 blades each. These rolls were operated at a speed in the range of 550 to 600 R. P. M. Hence it will be seen that the beater roll at such speed of rotation would be caused to strike or beat the crushed fibrous stalks at a raterof 5500 to 6000 times per minute, and it is by virtue of such high speed that it is now for the first time possible to obtain high production of line fibers on a machine adapted for use in the field or as part of mill equipment.

The scutcher roll is preferably mounted beneath the breaker bar and in such relation thereto that the blades just clear the underside thereof. By reason of the breaker bar being relatively thin in cross section, it is therefore possible to obtain relatively close relationship between the operating edge of the breaker bar and the outer path of travel of the blades of the scutcher roll, and preferably the distance between the operating edge of the breaker bar and the path of travel of the outer edge of the blades of the scutcher roll should not exceed 11/2 inches. By virtue of this relationship of the scutcher roll to the breaker bar and to the beater roll, the ber ings.

6 with the fibrous stalks, and thus effects high speed bending and flexing of constantly changing portions of the stalks as above referred to. Such action insures completion of the breaking of the pith or woody material to form short length hurds I 8a, and due to the fact that the edges of the blades of the respective rolls move in wiping engagement with the crushed stalk, and due to the high rate of speed of the blades as compared to the feeding speed of the stalks, the hurds are loosened and dislodged from the fibers, as clearly seen in the diagrammatic illustrations in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings. If the stalks are relatively small in cross section, or are relatively damp, they may not be completely broken over the breaker bar. However, due to the rapid series of reverse bending and flexing imparted to the stalks in close proximity to the operating edge of the breaker bar by the beater and scutcher roll,

the breaking of the stalks is positively effected to produce short hurds which are readily separated from the fibers.

The fiber of the crushed stalks is fed from the scutcher and beater rolls, onto the upper surface of a horizontally extending slat conveyer as indicated generally at 60. Supported upon the upper surface of the slats of the upper run of the conveyer, adjacent the head end, is a gravity-actuated roll or drum 6I, preferably of sheet metal,

having a shaft 62 slidably guided at opposite ends in forwardly inclined channels 63, connected to the side frames I0 as seen in Figure 2 of the draw- The gravity roll is adapted to cooperate with the upper surface of the conveyor for yieldingly engaging the strands of ber as they are fed from the scutcher and beater rolls, for feeding stalks, as they are fed over the operating edge mediate blade of the other roll are in engagement the same onto the conveyer to a suitable place of discharge. The conveyer preferably travels at a surface speed slightly less than the surface feeding speed of the crusher rolls 20 and 2I,` so that no tension is exerted upon the fibers as they are fed from the scutcher and beater rolls, and.

the roll 6| assists in feeding the fibers in a forwardly direction on the conveyer. 'I'hus it is possible to obtain a relatively high percentage of line bers. It has been found that due to the construction and the high speed of rotation of the beater and scutcher rolls, there is no tendency for the bers to wrap around the periphery of the rolls, and, further, the small hurds |8a are quickly and freely loosened and dislodged from the bers and discharged, both above and below the web of fibers being fed between the rolls, as illustrated in the drawings.

To preclude the hurds from dropping upon the upper surface of the conveyer, and becoming inter-twined with the fibers, there is provided a pair of deiiector members indicated at and 66 disposed above and below the normal path of travel of the web of fibers in feeding from the beater and scutcher rolls to the conveyer. The member 65 is preferably inclined in a direction toward one side of the machine for conveniently discharging the hurds accummulated therein- The conveyer 60 is of the conventional type, including `a plurality of spaced-apart strands of chain 68, inter-connected by slats 69, the chain being trained over head and foot 4sprockets, not shown. The head sprocket, it may be understood, is mounted on a shaft 10 journalled in a pair of bearings 1l, carried on the side frames I0.

The machine may be driven from a separate source of power. mounted directly on the frame structure thereof, but is preferably constructed so as to be driven by a tractor which also serves as the means for conveniently moving the machine from place to place. For this purpose the drive is connected directly to the beater roll shaft 4i, and it is understood that the shaft includes a lateral extension provided with a suitable pulley or sprocket wheel (not shown), for engagement by a suitable belt or chain driven by the tractor.

\The beater roll shaft and scutcher roll shaft 46 are inter-connected for simultaneous rotation by a pair of inter meshing relatively long tooth gears 1'5 and 16, rigidly mounted on the respective shafts. The teeth of the gears are preferably of substantial length so as to maintain meshing relationship while accommodating a substantial range of movement of the scutcher roll shaft 46, relatively to the beater roll shaft, for varying the inter-meshing relationship of the blades of the beater and scutcher rolls for the purposes above indicated.

Mounted on the beater roll shaft adjacent the gear is a sprocket wheel 18, which, through the medium of a chain 19, drives a comparatively large diameter sprocket wheel 80, rigidly mounted on the outer end of the upper crusher roll shaft 22. nected for simultaneous rotation by a pair of gears 82 and 83. Mounted von the lower crusher roll shaft 23, adjacent the gear 83, is a sprocket Wheel 84 which, through the medium of a chain 85, drives a sprocket wheel 86, mounted on the outer end of the head shaft lil of the conveyer.

Mounted on the upper crusher roll 22, inwardly of the gear 82, is a sprocket wheel B8 which, through the medium of a chain 89, drives a sprocket wheel 90, rigidly mounted on the outer end of the pressure roll shaft 32.

It will now be apparent that by virtue of the drive connections above described, the beater roll shaft is the power shaft of the machine and by the drive connections described, impart proper directional rotation of the crusher rolls, the pressure roll, the beater and scutcher rolls, as well as of the conveyer 60. To vary the speed of the crusher rolls for the purpose of Varying the speed of feed of the flbrous stalks merely would require substituting an increased or decreased size sprocket wheel for the sprocket wheel 18 on the beater roll shaft, or by substituting a different size sprocket wheel for the sprocket Wheel 89 on the upper crusher roll shaft 22.

Although I have herein shown and described one preferred embodiment of my invention, manifestly it is capable of modification and rearrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. I do not, therefore, wish to be understood as limiting this invention to the precise forni herein disclosed, except as I may be so limited by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus for treating brous material such as stalks of hemp, flax and the like, having a stationary breaker bar, the combination of a beater roll and a scutcher roll, said rolls each The crusher rolls 20 and 2| and inter-conincluding a plurality of longitudinally extending, circumferentially spaced-apart blades of flattened cross section, the forward face of the blades of the beater roll being inclined forward with respect to its direction of travel and the forward face of the blades of the scutcher roll being inclined rearwardly with respect to its direction of travel, the beater roll being disposed in a position with its blades in cooperating relation to the breaker bar to operate upon the stalks for severing the pith thereof into small hurds, said rolls `being rotatable in opposite directions and being disposed with their blades in lntermeshing relation for receiving the stalks therebetween, as they feed from the breaker bar, for dislodging the hurds from the fibers of the stalks.

2. In apparatus for treating fibrous material such as hemp, flax and the like, having a stationary breaker bar, the combination of a beater roll and a scutcher roll, said rolls each including a plurality of axially spaced spiders and a series of longitudinally extending, circumferentially spaced apart structural angle members disposed in corresponding relation, with one leg of each member secured to said spider and the other leg projecting outwardly to constitute a blade, said first mentioned legs each being positioned in close relation to the adjacent member to form a closed walled drum, the forward face of the blades of the beater roll being inclined forwardly with respect to its direction of travel and the forward face of the blades of the scutcher roll being inclined rearwardly with respect to its direction of travel, the beater roll being disposed in a position with its blades adapted to cooperate with the breaker bar to operate upon the stalks for severing the pith thereof into small hurds, said rolls being rotatable in opposite directions and being disposed with their blades in intermeshing relation for receiving the stalks therebetween as they feed from the breaker bar for dislodging the hurds from the fibers of the stalks.

JOHN V. COOK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 

